I Stole Your Love
by Strutter
Summary: Jam likes the new girl...but so does Hawk...
1. Jam

I'm sorry that the ending's not the best, but it got to the point that the story would just drag on if I kept it going, so I had to cut it short. Hope you enjoy it anyway because there's a severe lack of detroit rock city fanfics on the net! - Strutter

"Up! Get up! Out of bed Jeremiah!"

Jam groaned as his mother pulled off his quilt. Squinting at his KISS alarm clock, he slumped face-first back onto his pillow when he saw the time was only 7.30. Wednesday morning. What kind of a stupid system had the new school semester start on a Wednesday?

"Jeremiah! You have to go to school! I told you not to go to bed late on your last night of holidays because you wouldn't wake up in the morning!"

His mum rattled on as he got out of bed as slowly as possible. Ever since that KISS concert late last year, he had stopped taking his mother's shit to the same extent. However, instead of going to the magnitude of abusing his mother, he instead chose to do as she said…as slow as possible. Jam pulled down the KISS t-shirt he had slept in and headed down the stairs.

Walking through the kitchen, Jam grabbed a piece of toast before heading out the door. "Bye mum!" he called, knowing full well what she would say next.

"You are not going to school dressed in the clothes you slept in! I will not have my son appear as a slob to the world! You- JEREMIAH! COME BACK HERE!"

Jam slammed the door and walked casually to the bus stop.


	2. The New Girl

Yawning widely, Jam dragged himself down the steps of the bus and walked into school. As he walked he looked around for Hawk, Trip or Lex, his three best mates. They were nowhere to be seen, so he walked to his locker.

Inside, he found the three guys crowded around the lockers, deep in argument.

"I'm telling you Trip, Strutter was _the original_ KISS hit, so therefore it overrides any other hit they've had as the best fucking song of all time." Hawk stated, putting some books in his locker.

Trip grinned excitedly, as he so often did. "Nahhh way man, Rock and Roll All Night is like, officially the best KISS song to date. It's like, written about us man!"

Hawk was shaking his head, "It is not. I like my sleep for starters, it's just a metaphor."

"What?" Jam joined in, "A metaphor for what? Hawk, do you even know what a metaphor is?" Hawk often said bullshit stuff like he knew everything, and most of the time it was way off the mark.

"Strutter is the best song of all time." Hawk responded in a final tone, as if this answered Jam's question. He slammed his locker shut. "See you guys at lunch," he said, and walked off to Chemistry.

Trip shut his locker as well, "Yeah I better go."

"Go where?" Jam asked, "You never go to class!"

Trip laughed again, "I know, be behind the shed if you need me!" He walked off too, laughing to himself.

Lex shut his locker and walked off without saying anything. Jam had forgotten he was there.

He started to put his books into his locker, listening to the frustrated sound of someone trying to figure out their combination. He looked at the yearbook picture he had of Beth in his locker. He hadn't seen her since she'd left, and not spoken to her either. That was a relationship that went nowhere. He dropped his History book, and bent down to pick it up.

Then he heard an accented voice, "Excuse me, could you help me figure out this combination?"

Jam looked up to see a pretty brunette girl standing in front of him. She looked frustrated and a bit weary.

"Sure." he said, taking her lock, "What's your combination?"

"20, 0, 10."

He easily opened the lock, closed it again, and talked her through it, "Two clockwise, one anti and half clockwise, see?"

He let her have a go, and she got it easily. "Thankyou so much, I was almost pulling my hair out." She said, relieved.

Jam smiled, and they stood in silence for a moment. "I'm Jam." He said finally.

"I'm Jean," She replied, looking embarrassed at her stupid name.

Jam's faced twitched, but he didn't want to be rude, "It's, uhh, a nice name."

Jean nodded, "My dad's a big KISS fan, you know, Gene, Jean…"

Jam laughed, "Legendary! I love KISS…as you can probably see." He added, pointing to his shirt.

At that point the bell went, warning students to get to class.

"I'll probably see you at lunch then," Jean said, smiling as she walked passed him. "Thanks again!" She called before she disappeared behind the corner.

Jam stared into his locker for a moment. Then he realised that he was staring into his locker, slammed the door shut, slapped his face quickly and walked to History.


	3. The Arrangement

Every period, Jam ran quickly out of class and looked around for Jean. To prolong his time and to cover more ground, he repeatedly went to the drink fountain and took long sips of water. For this reason, by lunchtime he really needed to go to the toilet. Running along the corridor, he finally spotted Jean walking toward him.

"Hey Jam!" She called, stopping to talk to him.

Jam stopped, a mixture of feelings sweeping over him. He was happy, but at the same time uncomfortable because he really needed to get to the toilet.

"Jean! Hey, um, I, uhh- how- um could you- could you just..wait there for a tic? Just stay right there okay?"

She nodded as he ran off. He entered the bathroom, finding Trip sitting on the basin smoking something. Not stopping to find out what it was and why the hell he was sitting on the basin to smoke it, Jam did what he had to do and ran back.

To his delight and slight surprise, Jean was still there.

"Back," he said, skidding to a stop in front of her.

"Welcome back," She smiled a sweet smile. They started walking to the cafeteria in silence.

"So…so! Where are you from?" Jam asked her, remembering the weird accent he'd picked up on earlier.

"Australia. My family just moved here, it's weird cos we don't know anyone so it's really hard."

Seizing the opportunity, Jam hoped to God Lex wouldn't mind. Not that he ever talked anyway. "Listen, my friend Lex is having a party this Friday night, did you want to come? Just a chance to meet some people, you know," Jam finished in a rush.

Jean thought for a minute, then smiled, "Sure, thanks for that."


	4. The Conflict

By this time they had reached the cafeteria. Jam saw his friends at their usual table, and thought about asking Jean to come and sit with them. He then decided against it, knowing full well the treatment his friends would give him if she did.

He got a plate of disgusting cafeteria mush and looked around in time to see Jean sitting down with some girls she must have met in her first lesson. Sitting at the table, he realised that once again Hawk and Trip were engaged in another stupid argument.

"The cat face? It's pathetic! There's so many other choices of design he could have chosen other than a cat!" Hawk was punctuating his view by pointing his index finger on the table with every second word.

"It's a beautiful creature dude! The cat, it, like, shows the ferociousness of the band!" was Trip's argument.

"Man that doesn't even make sense. You just major contradicted yourself."

Both guys looked over at Lex to see if he would settle the argument.

Lex stood up, "I'm gonna get another bread roll." Off he went.

Jam played with his food, occasionally looking in the direction of Jean without making it too obvious. He only zoned in on the conversation when Hawk changed the subject.

"Hey have either of you seen that new chick who's in my Chemistry class?"

"What, Jean?" Jam said without thinking.

"Yeah that was her name I think. She's so incredibly fucking hot, man I'd do anything to get her."

Jam got an annoyed feeling in his stomach, "She's also really nice and friendly. I've invited her to Lex's party this Friday."

Hawk smiled, "Great."

The bell went and they all departed. Jam decided against telling Lex about inviting Jean, figuring no matter what he thought his reply would just be, "K." Looking over at Jean for one last time, Jam left for English.

For the next two school days, all talk was about the party. What people were wearing, what people were drinking, what people were smoking. It got to a point where teachers refused to allow students to go to lunch if one word of Lex's party was mentioned. It was surprising that Lex was so popular, as he never spoke, nor showed any inkling of personality. However, having a lenient mother and a big living room may have had some part in his popularity.


	5. The Party

Jam showed up at Lex's house just after 9.00. He was late because he had to wait for his mother to go to her church meeting, and listen to her babble on about not listening to KISS too loud and clean up the dishes. Whilst doing so, he was listening to KISS and throwing the dishes on the sink, unwashed. Arriving to a party late had its benefits; most people were already wasted, and the music was cranking.

He only had one thing on his mind when he got into the lounge room. Looking around, he searched for Jean. Finally, he spotted her over by the television. He couldn't help thinking about how gorgeous she looked, in a little denim skirt and black top.

He tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey!"

She turned around looking a bit worn, "Hey Jam."

He noticed that she had a cup in her hand, "What are you drinking?"

She screwed up her nose, "Whatever's in this cup." She looked really distant, it wasn't like how she'd been the past few days.

Jam considered taking the conversation further, but he was really thirsty. He decided to go get a drink, then continue talking to Jean.

He poured himself some of the punch, then turned around to drink it. On instinct, he scanned the room for Jean.

She was sitting on the couch with Lex, Trip and Hawk. Trip and Lex were sharing a joint, and Hawk was talking to Jean. She took a sip of her drink, then slumped further into the couch. Hawk said something to her, and she replied without opening her eyes.

Jam turned around to fill up his drink again. Turning back, he looked around the room to see who he could talk to. He couldn't spend the entire night following Jean around.

A pretty little girl in dark clothes and make-up, and a slightly nerdy-looking boy walked over to him.

"Hey Jo, hey Harry," Jam said smiling.

Jo smiled back, "Hey Jam, just talking to Harry here about the new 80's stuff. I know it's only 1980, but the 80's stuff is going to take off. I predict that in the year 2004, it will still be big."

Jam smiled and nodded, assuming that Jo was just slightly stoned. Harry pushed his glasses up, "I just apparated here from another party."

Deciding to leave the stoners alone, Jam walked passed another girl, Sophie, who he knew never drank nor smoked anything other than the usual nicotine. She didn't need to; she was crazy enough without it.

Stopping by the food table, he picked up a handful of chips, and looked back over at Jean. He stopped, hand frozen to his mouth.

Jean and Hawk were hooking up.

His eyes frozen to the pair, Jam's heart was pounding in his chest.

Jean started to climb on top of Hawk. She straddled him, and their kissing began to grow more intense. He started to feel her up, his hand moving further and further down. He was reaching down and fumbling with something.

Jam's stomach was churning and he felt like he was going to be sick. He would not take his eyes off the couple. _Leave her Hawk, leave her alone. _

They suddenly stopped kissing, both not moving. Jam thought he might finally be able to move.

Then suddenly Jean clutched her hands around Hawk's neck, her head pointing upwards as she jerked her body rapidly forward. Jam ran to the toilet, otherwise he would have thrown up all over Lex's living room floor. He flushed the toilet, and looked at himself in the mirror. Filling up his cup with tap water, he took a sip. Then he threw the rest of the water on the bathroom mirror.

He couldn't believe it. Hawk, one of his best friends, was fucking Jean. He always got the girl, Jam was used to that, it had been happening since 8th grade. But for some reason this was different. He wasn't sure if it was because he especially liked Jean, or because it was simply the last straw; he was pissed off.

He took a deep breath and walked back out into the living room. Hawk and Lex were the only two left on the couch now, both having a joint. Trip was off in the corner with Sophie, who looked disgusted as he shooted up again. Jam didn't want to do it, but it was almost nature to him now; he looked around for Jean.

He went into the smaller family room, and found Jean sitting on the couch. He went to leave, disgusted to see her.

"Jam!"

Obligingly, he turned around and stared stonily at her, "Yeah Jean? What?"

Her eyes looked very watery, "I need to tell you something."

He continued to stare at her.

"Can you just come sit down here for a minute?"

He hesitated, then sat down on the couch next to her.

"Jam I- I really like you. I don't know if it's the alcohol I've had that's talking or what but I've liked you since you first talked to me."

Despite all that had happened that night, Jam couldn't help feeling his spirits lift just a little. "Jean, I really like you. But after what you did tonight.."

Jean looked really scared, "I don't know what happened, I only had one drink, felt a bit tipsy, then I walked over to Hawk to ask him what I should do about liking you-I knew you two were friends and he'd been so nice to me in Chemistry- and as soon as I sat down the alcohol really hit me, and then I think I kissed him though I'm not sure and then-then.."

Jam's spirits were sinking once again, however for a completely different reason. "What were you drinking?"

"That punch stuff!" Jean was looking around wildly, with scared eyes.

"Are you sure that was it? I had it too and I'm fine."

Jean nodded again slowly, then slumped down again. Jam checked her pulse, and got her to lie down. He then called an ambulance.

Walking into the living room, he found Hawk talking to Jo and Harry. He grabbed him and threw him on the lounge.

"What the fuck-"

"Did you spike Jean's drink?" Jam said through gritted teeth.

Hawk grinned, "It won't kill her…I told you I thought she was hot, I just wanted to fuck her. You can have her now-"

Hawk stopped as the weight of Jam's fist landed on his jaw. He looked up at Jam in disbelief, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. He glared at his friend, then walked into the backyard, slamming the door behind him.

Walking over to Lex, he explained what had happened, told him he'd called an ambulance, and apologised for ruining the party.

"That's K" Lex replied, and went back to watching a game show on TV.

By this time most of the people were crowding around Hawk, asking each other what had happened. Gradually, people started to leave. The ambulance arrived and took Jean. Jam helped Lex clean up. Trip took one last…trip, and fell asleep in Lex's bed. Jam decided to walk home, hoping to get there before his mum.

He didn't.

"WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN YOUNG MAN? I HAVE BEEN WORRIED SICK. I GET HOME, THE DISHES ARE A MESS, YOU'VE DONE NOTHING I TOLD YOU TO, AND YOU'RE GONE! YOU BETTER HAVE A DECENT EXPLANATION!"

Jam rolled his eyes; he'd been through enough bullshit tonight. "See, my mate Lex had a party, right? Cos his mum is out of town? So yeah, I went to that, people were drinking and shooting up everywhere. So then this girl I like, who I will probably be going out a lot with from now on, got her drink spiked, and ended up screwing my best friend. So I threw up, punched my best friend out, and called the ambulance for her. Then I decided, as you always tell me to, that I better help Lex clean up. That's my explanation."

His mum looked speechless. He waited for it.

"You called an ambulance for a drink spiking victim? Wow…I'm very proud of you Jeremiah."

This was not what he'd expected to hear. "So, I'm not grounded?"

"Oh you're grounded for the rest of the year. But I'm proud of you."

Jeremiah groaned and went to his room. In the morning he'd call the hospital and talk to Jean. But at the moment he just wanted to sleep.


	6. The Aftermath

Jean and Jam began going out as soon as she got out of hospital, which was actually only overnight.

Hawk woke up a new man.. and screwed Jo.

Lex actually went a day without talking.

Trip got stoned.


End file.
